Troy Vincent explains why NFL's punishment of Gronk was 'fair and firm, but not excessive'

Troy Vincent explained the NFL’s decision to suspended Rob Gronkowski for one game for his illegal hit on Tre’Davious White.

“We evaluated, and the one game is where we landed,” Vincent said, via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. “It was Rob’s first action of this kind. You want to be fair and firm, but not excessive.”

Gronkowski put White in concussion protocol after driving his forearm into the back of the Bills cornerback’s head while he was laying on the ground partially out of bounds. The fact that White ended up in concussion protocol was not a factor, according to Vincent.

“We never look at the result. It’s always the act of,” Vincent said. “We don’t get into the result or the intent. And then when you look at the non football act, the only thing and you want to look at history and precedent.”

The fact that the violent act came after the play meant that it was a “non-football act,” which could have fallen under a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness. The NFL chose roughness.

The NFL upheld Gronkowski’s appeal of the suspension, and so he will serve it in Week 14. He will lose $281,000 in salary.